How to Become an Organ Donor in Texas

More than ten thousand Texas residents are currently waiting for donated organs. (See Texas's waiting list for precise numbers.) To be part of the solution to the ongoing need for donated organs and tissues, take the following steps to become a donor after your death.

1. Sign Up at the Texas Organ Donor Registry

To confirm your intention to be an organ donor, begin by registering with the state organ donor database at Donate Life Texas. It takes just a few minutes to register online. Or you can download a registration form and sign up by mail. After your death, medical personnel will search the state donor registry and easily locate your wish to be a donor.

2. Use Your Texas Driver's License to Show You Are an Organ Donor

When you get a new driver's license in Texas, you will be asked whether you would like to be an organ donor. If you say yes, a red heart will appear on the front of your license, and your information will be forwarded to the state organ donor registry. (If you've used your driver's license to indicate that you want to donate, you don't have to register online.) For more information, see the How to Register page at Donate Life Texas.

3. Include Organ Donation in Your Medical Power of Attorney

In addition to signing up with the Texas organ donor registry and using your driver's license to indicate that you want to be an organ donor, it's a good idea to include your desire to donate in your important estate planning documents, especially your medical power of attorney. (It's not always helpful to include your organ donation wishes in your will because it may not be found and read until it is too late to donate.) Covering these bases helps to ensure that your wishes will be known and followed.

For additional information about making an advance directive, see Texas Living Wills and Medical Powers of Attorney: What You Need to Know.

4. Tell Others That You Are an Organ Donor

If you've documented your wishes to be an organ and tissue donor, your wishes must be honored whether or not others agree with your choice. (Texas Code § 692A.008.) Nevertheless, to avoid confusion or delays, it's important to tell others that you feel strongly about donating your organs. Consider discussing the matter with family members, your health care providers, your clergyperson if you have one, and close friends.

These conversations are critical because if you don't document your intention to be an organ donor, your next of kin will make the decision about whether or not to donate your organs. (See below.)

How to Donate Your Whole Body in Texas

Many medical schools and other institutions seek donations of whole bodies for research and instruction. You can make arrangements to donate your body to science by directly contacting an interested medical school or whole body donation organization.

For more information about donating your body to science in Texas, you may contact one of the programs on this list of body donation programs in the United States. You can also contact a national whole body donation organization such as Science Care.

If You Don't Want to Be an Organ Donor in Texas

If for any reason you feel strongly that you do not want to be an organ donor, you should put those wishes in writing. If you don't, your family members may consent to the donation of your organs after your death.

Write down your instructions in a signed, dated document -- perhaps in your advance directive -- and be sure your family and health care providers know that you choose not to be an organ donor. Sign the document in front of two disinterested witnesses. If they know of your wishes, they are legally barred from donating any part of your body. (Texas Code § 692A.007.)

If You Don't Make the Decision, Who Will?

If you don't leave instructions about organ donation, Texas law decides who will make the decision for you after your death. When a minor dies, the right to decide about organ donation goes to the child's parents. For adults, the right goes to the following people, in order:

• your agent, if you appointed one, unless the appointing document explicitly withholds this power
• your spouse
• your adult children
• your parents
• your adult siblings
• your adult grandchildren
• your grandparents
• an adult who exhibited special care and concern for you
• the people who were acting as the "guardians of your person" before your death
• the hospital administrator, or
• any other person who has the authority to handle the disposition of your body.

(Texas Code § 692A.009.)

If you have any concerns that the right to make decisions about donating your organs would go to a person other than the one you would choose, don't procrastinate. Take the time to document your own decision about organ donation.

For More Information

To learn more about organ donation, see the website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at OrganDonor.gov.

Also, learn more about estate planning, organ donation, funerals, and memorials on the Getting Your Affairs in Order section of Nolo.com.